Francisco Liriano made a strong case to start Opening Day throwing three scoreless innings in a 4-3 Spring Training win Tuesday afternoon against the Tampa Bay Rays.
In his three innings of work, Liriano surrendered one hit while striking out four batters. He also registered a single.
“I just want to get better each start,” Liriano said. “I was pretty happy with what I did today.”
“He’s never going to be a guy who just goes out there to get his work in,” Manager Clint Hurdle said. “He’s fully engaged. That’s the way he’s wired.”
The Pirates [4-2-2] scored their first run in the second inning on a Sean Rodriguez RBI ground out that plated Andrew Lambo. Both Lambo and Rodriguez each brought an additional run across home plate in the fourth inning to put the lead at 3-0. Lambo hit a double to score Jung-ho Kang and Rodriguez a single to score Lambo. Lambo was 2-for-3 from the plate.
The Rays [1-4-1] responded scoring a single run in the sixth inning and another two in the seventh. A Desmond Jennings RBI single brought home Bobby Wilson, and one inning later David DeJesus and Luke Maile each singled to score Evan Longoria and James Loney.
Gustavo Nunez ended up driving in the game winning run with a single. Keon Braxton scored on the play which came in the top of the eighth inning.
Ryan Beckman [1-0] picked up the win, Enny Romero [0-1] took the loss and Collin Balester earned the save.
Balester in addition to Tony Watson, Jared Hughes and Blake Wood each pitched scoreless innings for the Pirates. Watson struck out two batters in his inning of work. Antonio Bastardo allowed three base runners and a run in an inning and Rob Scahill was on the mound when the Rays scored the other two runs. Scahill pitched two-thirds of an inning allowing three hits and a walk. Beckman relieved him and got the final out of the seventh inning.
Tony Sanchez was 2-for-2 from the plate with a double and a walk while catching the first six innings.
The Pirates will play the Philadelphia Phillies Wednesday at 1:05 PM. Charlie Morton will start for the Pirates and Cole Hamels is scheduled to do the same for the Phillies. Jeff Locke, John Holdzkom, Stolmy Pimentel and Brad Lincoln are also pitch for the Pirates. The Pirates will carry a webcast of the contest.
Notebook: Pirates pitcher Brandon Cumpton came into Spring Training hoping to earn a spot on the team’s major league roster, however Tuesday those dreams officially ended when it was announced that he underwent Tommy John surgery. Dr. James Andrews saw and examined Cumpton on Monday and his recovery is expected to be made in 12-18 months.
“Thank you all for the kind words, blessings, and prayers,” Cumpton tweeted. “I’ll be back better and stronger than ever.”
The Pirates announced the introduction of 12 game ticket plans Tuesday. The plan’s intent is to allow fans to secure seats for games that are in higher demand. There are two options with this plan which are the weekend plan and a flex plan.
The weekend plan ranges from $219-$463. The games feature seven Free Shirt Friday Nights, three Saturday that include fireworks as well as a Starling Marte bobblehead and two Sunday contests. The flex plan allows fans to personalize the desired games with prices ranging from $198-$462. Fans will have two lists of games and are to choose six games from both lists.
With these plans fans would have the opportunity to purchase postseason tickets.
